


Three words. Eight letters

by RuneStarArrow



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Blitz is stupid, Blitzstone, Hearth is stupid, I'm suffering from a disease called blitzstone, M/M, Sam Ships It, They are adorable dorks, fluffityfluff, so much fluff i'm not kidding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:16:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5226626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuneStarArrow/pseuds/RuneStarArrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time I saw Hearthstone, I knew he was different. And it wasn’t in the way that an elf was laying in Nidavellir of all places, clearly exhausted and on the ground in all black, what the Helheim was he thinking? No. And it wasn’t in the way that, after I had successfully created my first project in years, he had woken up and been unable to communicate properly, clearly deaf. No. Not that either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three words. Eight letters

**Author's Note:**

> This is the longest thing I have ever written, I usually have to force myself to write over a thousand words, and then I check the word count on this and it's at 2000 and I almost faint, so enjoy! 
> 
> Have fun.
> 
> Mwahahahahaha

The first time I saw Hearthstone, I knew he was different. And it wasn’t in the way that an elf was laying in Nidavellir of all places, clearly exhausted and on the ground in all black, what the Helheim was he thinking? No. And it wasn’t in the way that, after I had successfully created my first project in years, he had woken up and been unable to communicate properly, clearly deaf. No. Not that either. 

I knew that Hearth was different, special, because he had been the first person that I had felt a bone deep need to protect, to care for, since my father had died. I hadn’t even thought about dragging him into my house and constructing something to help him until after it was done. Hearth was the first person in a very long time that had been able to convince me to do anything. If I hadn’t eaten my dinner, Hearth would be the one to bring it to me on a tray, and not even have to be thanked, just given me that little smile of his and be on his way. I had tried so hard to learn sign language, taking time out of my day to learn, time that could be spent on clothes or designing. 

I still wasn’t very good at it, but I was learning. For Hearth, I would do anything. 

And sure, I cared for Sam and Magnus, and I would die for them, but Hearth was the only one who could pull that need to protect from me.

It was Sam, finally, who made me realise that I was in love with him. 

She had come up to me, two weeks after we had bound Fenris wolf, and crossed her arms.

I could tell that she wasn’t here to talk about a new hijab. 

LINEBREAK

“So Blitz…” she grinned, looking like she was enjoying this immensely. 

“Hey Sam,” I replied, hoping desperately that I could distract her with fabric patterns. “Do you like this silk, or should I-” I started, but she cut in.

“I want to know about your feelings for Hearth.” She said, bluntly.

“My feelings for Hearth? What do you mean?” She glared at me, but not in an angry way, more in an I-can-tell-you-know-what-I’m-talking-about-now-‘fess-up way. I spluttered, trying to find a way to express it with words. “He’s my best friend, Sam. You know that.” I tried, rather weakly.

She glared harder.

“Um… well,” I said. 

“Well?” she echoed. “I asked a question, Blitz, it is common courtesy to answer it.”

I thought of possible answers to that question. Sure, I knew that my feelings for Hearth went a little deeper than normal best friends, but I had always just assumed that I considered him family. A brother, of sorts. Now, when I really scrutinised my feelings, I realised I was wrong. I remembered every time I tried to sign and got it a little wrong, and Hearth wound take my hands and correct them. I remembered how I had put my coat over him so that he would be warm, even though that coat was expensive, and also one of my favourites. I remembered watching him work magic right for the first time, and feeling so, so proud of him.

I remembered finding a small, fragile elf on my doorstep, and knowing, deep in my heart, that this man would be important to me. Would help me. 

I looked up at Sam, shock and disbelief plastered over my features. She smirked at me and snorted. She turned on her heel, walking off with a sweep of her coat.

“I’ll take the silk!” She called over her shoulder.

LINEBREAK

The next time I saw Hearth was awkward to say the least. I was in our apartment, above my store. I was the one that suggested moving in together, because neither of us would be able to afford it on our own, and there was no way I was living homeless again. (At least, that’s what I told myself.)

Hearth had been doing the shopping for the week, and he came in carrying two bags in each hand, with his red and white scarf wound around his neck. I was suddenly very aware of how his shoulders looked under his black coat, and how adorable he looked when he tried to not let on he was tired, little puffs of breath leaving his slightly parted lips. He put down the bags on the countertop, and turned to smile at me. He had been doing more of that lately than he ever had before. I couldn’t help but feel jealous that it was Sam and Magnus that first brought that smile to his lips, not me.

His smile disappeared when he took in my expression, and his forehead crinkled. Are you okay? He signed, and I forced a smile onto my face and nodded. I tried to get past him, out of the kitchen door so that I could lock myself in my room and evaluate my life choices for a few minutes (hours), but Hearth didn’t let me. He stepped in front of me, an expression of worry and annoyance on his face. 

My shoes didn’t match the rest of my outfit, did they? They weren’t quite the right shade of green… 

I suddenly felt a thin finger on my chin, lifting my face up. With his other hand, Hearth made a fist, with his pinkie and thumb sticking out and brought it to his face. What’s wrong? He asked, his finger still on my chin. It was kind of distracting.

Nothing. I signed back.

Bullshit. He signed. I didn’t even know where he learnt that sign. Magnus, probably. Now tell me. There’s something wrong. 

“I said nothing.” I yelled, ripping away from him and running outside. I kept on running, running and running, until I finally reached Sam’s house. She was so going to pay for this. 

I knocked on her door three times, hard, with the brass knocker, glowing in the sunlight. 

After about thirty seconds, Sam opened the door in her new silk hijab, and when she realised it was me, smiled. She re-evaluated after seeing my expression. 

She grabbed a bag and my arm, towing me towards a bench in the park over the street, slightly under shadow from a large oak tree.

“You’ve ruined everything.” I hissed once we got there, and she looked genuinely frightened. 

“Um… sorry?” she said, carefully.

“Why did you have to come along and make me realise that I’m in love with him for gods’ sakes? Why couldn’t you just leave us alone? We were fine! I was happy! We were happy! And now I can’t go back! I can’t even-” I froze.

And I mean literally. The midday sunlight shone down on my hand, stuck in a position in front of my chest.

Sam surged forward without even thinking about it, dragging me backwards into the shade from the oak above the bench, but I could feel her hands shaking. I would shake too, if I could. 

My neck had petrified already, and, to be honest, it was a wonder I hadn’t already noticed. My neck, most of my face, my hands and my ankles were all stiff and almost impossible to move already, and I’d still managed to be dumb enough to forget that I was a dwarf and petrified in sunlight, but, whatever. Chances are that I was going to become Blitz-the-fashionable-statue after this. Sam had no idea how to help. 

She appeared to be on her phone, scrolling through her contacts list. Her fingers were moving at the speed of light, now seeming to be typing out a message. In another second she was in front of me.

“What can I do, Blitz? I’m so sorry, I should have realised-” My mouth was still working reasonably well, so I was able to talk a little.

“Not-your fault, S-sam. M-mine. P-p-phone?” I asked, hoping that she would be able to tell what I meant.

“Oh, I texted Hearth. He’ll know better than me what to do. His phone’s on vibrate in his pocket usually, isn’t it?” 

I already knew that Hearth had got the text, and he must have been close before, because I could see a figure in black with a red and white scarf running at full speed towards us. In that, I could see exactly how worried he was, because Hearth never ran full tilt unless absolutely terrified, because he wouldn’t be able to tell if there were any dangers coming. 

Once he spotted us, he started to sign, even quicker than I could process. I picked out some choice phrases, though.

Idiot. Stupid dwarf. Don’t do that. And, although I must have mistranslated, I love you.

He was upon us in mere seconds, still frantically signing, although now to Sam. Under his instruction, she put an arm under my shoulders, Hearth on my other side. They both moved quickly, towing me across the road and towards Sam’s house. I felt myself start to petrify even more in just the few seconds it took to get me across the road, and through Sam’s door. Sam let go of me, so that I was leaning fully on Hearthstone, and ran to shut the blinds in the kitchen at the end of the hall. Hearth shook his head, and Sam’s eyes flickered desperately around the place, before settling on what looked suspiciously like a shoe cupboard. She ran towards it, opening the door, and ushering us all in. It was a bit of a squeeze, but we managed. Hearth swept some shoes of the top row of a shoe-rack (to which both Sam and I made a disgruntled noise) and sat me down on top of it. It was so dark none of us could see, but I could sense Hearth grabbing Sam’s hands (I tried not to murder anything), and signing something with them. She whispered a small “Okay. I’ll be back by nightfall.” and opened the door quickly. 

I was still part stone, so I wasn’t vibrating with nervous energy, but if I wasn’t I would most definitely be. I heard Hearth let out a small breath, and felt him settle down next to me on the rack. His fingers entwined carefully with mine, and that was the last move either of us made in a long time.

LINEBREAK

I woke up who knows how long after that, to Hearth tracing patterns on my arm. No, not patterns-words. The same words, over and over again. 

Three words. Eight letters.

I L O V E Y O U

I sat up with a jolt, my brain finally processing what he just said. I felt him jump besides me, and I could feel his pulse start to speed up through our entwined fingers. 

I couldn’t see. Goddammit, of all the times seeing would be helpful, this was quite important, but no, of course I wouldn’t be that lucky. Ah well. I’d have to make do. I brought my free hand up to his cheek, fingers sliding into his hair, and I could hear his breathing start to accelerate. I pulled him closer, so close I could feel his shaky breaths on my parted lips. We both leant in even further, but stopped there, mere millimetres away from our lips touching, neither wanting to take the final step and face rejection.

The door flew open to reveal Sam in the doorway, and we both jumped apart until we were sitting on opposite ends of the shoe rack, both very clearly wanting to sink through the floor. Sam’s mouth was in a perfect ‘o’ and she flushed a bright red colour, a colour I was sure was mirrored on my cheeks. 

“Um… it’s dark now, so you can go home…” she said, her expression mortified. 

“Okay, thanks Sam.” I said quietly, and stood up. I walked out of the shoe cupboard, staring at my shoes. I still didn’t think they were quite right…

I heard Sam shut the door behind her, so I assumed Hearth had come out. I headed to the front door, and slipped outside into the cold. My coat was at home, hung up on a peg by the front door. I glanced behind me to check that Hearth was there, and immediately wished I hadn’t. He was staring at me unhappily, looking like I had disappointed him, or that I wasn’t the same man he knew earlier today. I wrapped my arms around my body, and started walking slowly, giving Hearth the chance to catch up. 

Within a hundred metres, Hearth was walking beside me, staring straight ahead, stubbornly refusing to look at me. 

When we got home, we both took off our shoes at the front door, and Hearth went to get a glass of water from the tap in the kitchen. I followed him, and leant against the doorframe. He still wouldn’t look at me. He filled his glass, and made as if to go to his room. This time, I was the one blocking his exit. 

His eyes flickered to mine once before focusing again on the tiled floor. 

I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at me. Making sure his eyes were focused on mine, I held my hand up. 

Thumb, index and pinkie finger up. Middle and ring fingers down.

The sign for I love you.

His eyes once again flickered to mine. 

Slowly, ever so slowly, I moved both my hands to cup his face. 

I moved in deliberately, slowly.

But this time, I didn’t hesitate. 

I kissed him. A chaste press of lips, nothing special, yet it set fireworks off in my stomach, the feeling of his lips, so warm and smooth, against mine, the feeling I had been longing for, for so long without even realising it. He was frozen for a couple of seconds before he responded, his hands coming up to rest on the small of my back, one leisurely sliding upwards to between my shoulder blades, pressing me ever closer. He leant me slightly backwards, and tilted his head. I grinned against his mouth, and he pulled away, grinning too, both of us lost in each other’s eyes. 

He took my face in his hands, sliding his thumbs along my cheekbones, just staring at me, and I stared at him too, drinking in his appearance so close to me, his pupils blown wide and hair messed up from my fingers in it, and I smoothed it down again. He smiled at me, and I realised that for the second time today, he had been writing on my skin. 

Three words. Eight letters.

I L O V E Y O U


End file.
